t'Til^^-SuL 













^^^■r '^ ■ '^ ■"''. -iTi -^ -111 ' ' •• i 




UiBMrToF CONGRESS, 
^d^^. ■.E.12.33 

I UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. || 



.... f".J .. ■• ?.? ■ 









.^i/* 







^__^ X.'»- ■ Vt»*^^J'? -I. • ».'■■. 



^v^ 



B A N Q IT E T 



TO 






CTo 



»"^ 



c^. 




fre 



f 



ej^ 




ilv^^ 



(Lny, 






Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary 
from Mexico to the United States, 



BV TUK 




CITIZENS (3F NEW YORK. 



OCTOBER, 2nd, 1867, 



New York, September 16, 1867. 
His Excellency, Senor Matias Romero, 

Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, from Mexico, 

Washington, D. C. 
Sir : 

The undersigned citizens of New York, desirous to testify in some public 

manner their esteem for your character as the representative of the Mexican 

Government, their appreciation of the services which you have rendered your 

coimtry by steadily adhering to its cause under the greatest discouragements, and 

their interest in the welfare of Mexico, invite you to a Dinner at such time as may 

suit your convenience to appoint. 

Respectfully, your obedient Servants, 



PETER COOPER, 
WM. H. ASPINWALL, 
PAUL SPOFFORD, 
M. H. GRINNELL, 
H. H. VAN DYCK, 
HENRY CLEWS, 
SAM'L G. COURTNEY, 
JAMES ROBB, 
CHAS. W. SANDFORD, 
FRANCIS SKIDDY, 
SHEPARD GANDY, 
PARK GODWIN, 
WM. R. GARRISON, 
BENJ. HOLLIDAY, 
ElililOTT C. COWDIN, 



WM. C. BRYANT, 
JAMES W. BEEKMAN, 
HIRAM BARNEY, 
WM. E. DODGE, JR., 
JOHN JAY, 

HENRY WARD BEECHER, 
DAN'L BUTTERFIELD, 
THEODORE ROOSEVELT, 
JOHN A. STEWART, 
HENRY A. SMYTHE, 
DAVID HOADLEY, 
RUFUS INGALLS, 
JAS. R. WHITING, 
J. GRANT WILSON, 
WM. G. FARGO. 



» 



Washington, September 18, 1867, 
GrENTLEMEN : 

I have been honored with the letter yoii had the kindness to address 
me on the 16th instant, inviting me to a Dinner at such time as may suit my con- 
venience to apijoint. 

It is very gratifying to me, gentlemen, that such good friends of mine and 
prominent citizens of New York as you, who have encouraged me so much through- 
out the contest, would now tender me this significant demonstration, selecting a 
time when I am about returning home, after having obtained, thanks to a merciful 
Providence, the patriotism of the Mexican people and the noble sympathy of the 
people of the United States, a crowning success in all the objects of my labors. 

I take this flattering demonstration to be the renewed expression of your 
sympathy for the efforts of the Mexican people in defending the Independence of 
their Country and the institutions of their choice, and for the patriotic conduct of 
the Republican Government which did so much to achieve success. 

It will afibrd me a great deal of pleasure to meet you in the proposed social cele- 
bration of our success, which wall, in my opinion, prove advantageous to this 
country as well as to my own, and for which we are so much indebted to you. 

Availing myself of the privilege you have been good enough to grant me, I 
will name Wednesday, the 2d of October, as convenient to nie, and hope that this 
time may also be acceptable to you. 

I am. Gentlemen, with high respect, most truly, 
Your obedient servant, 

M. ROMERO. 



To Messrs. William Cullen Bryant, Peter Cooper, William H. Asptuwall, Paul 
Spoffbrd, James W. Beekman, Henry A Smythe, H. H. Van Dyck, 
Samuel G. Courtney, Benjamin HoUiday, Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, 
James Robb, Maj. Gen'l Butterfield, William E. Dodge, Jr., Theodore 
Roosevelt, Maj. Gen'l Sandford, Francis Skiddy, Henry Clews, William 
R. Garrison, Park Godwin, David Hoadley, Wm. G. Fargo, Maj. Gen'l 
Ingalls, Shepard Gandy, John A. Stewart, Judge Whiting, J. Grant 
Wilson, Elliott C. Cowdin, John Jay, Moses H. Grinnell, Hiram 
Barney, 

Of New York. 



LETTEES. 



Department of State, Washington, Sept. 27, 1867. 
To Hiram Barney, James W. Beekman, William E. Dodge, Jr., Theodore 

Roosevelt, and Henry Clews, Committee, &c.. New York. 
Gentlemen : 

I regret that business here will deprive me of the pleasure of 
being present at the entertainment so justly and properly tendered by eminent 
citizens of New York to my highly respected and esteemed friend, Mr. Romero, 
the Minister who has so long represented the Republic of Mexico at this Capitol, 
with distinguished ability, fidelity, frankness, and courtesy. With thanks for your 
kind invitation, and with the assurance of high respect, 

I am, your obedient servant, 

WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 



Headquarters Armies op the United States, 
Washington, D. C, Sept. 27, 1867. 
My Dear Sir : 

Your polite invitation for me to be present at a Dinner to be given 
to Senor Romero, Mexican Minister, &c., is received. I regret to think it improb- 
able that I will be able to leave this city at the time specified. I regret this because 
of the high appreciation I have always held the recipient of your compliment in, 
personally, and the sympathy I have felt for the cause which he has so ably and 
zealously represented. His cause was our cause, to a greater extent probably than 
will ever be appreciated, now that success has attended it. Failure would have 
demonstrated how much we were interested in the success of the Liberals of our 



6 

Sister Republic. Hoping that you will laave a pleasant time, and clearly de- 
monstrate to Senor Romero the heartfelt sympathy of loyal Americans for the 
cause of free government in his country, 

, I subscribe myself. 

Respectfully and truly, your friend, 

U. S. GRANT, General. 
HiKAM Barney, Esq., Chairman, &c. 



Washington, September 30th, 1867. 
Gentlemen : 

I regret my inability to be present on the occasion of the complimen- 
tary Dinner which is to be given to Senor Romero, on the 2nd of October. Other 
duties detain me here. It would afford me great gratification to unite with 
you in complimenting one who has with eminent fidelity and ability repre- 
sented the Republic of Mexico at Washington, during the trying period when his 
country and our own had difficulties of no ordinary character to surmount. From 
constant intercourse with him through those eventful years I can bear testi- 
mony to his unfaltering devotion to the cause of Constitutional freedom, and I 
am happy to congratulate him that he can, without molestation from foreign 
invaders, return to the Republic which he has so faithfully represented. 

I am, very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

GIDEON WELLES. 
Hon. Hiram Barney, Chairman, &c. 



Department of State, Washington, 38th Sept. 1867. 
Gentlemen : 

Cordially sharing in your esteem for Mr. Romero, and in your 

appreciation of his character and eminent public services, it is with regret that I 

find that the pressure of official duties here will prevent my accepting your kind 

invitation to be present at the Dinner which has been tendered to him in New 

York. 

With much respect, your obedient servant, 

F. W. SEWARD. 
Hon. Hiram Barney, Chairman, &c 



U. S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md., Sept. 28, 1867. 
Gentlemen : 

I have tlie lionor to acknowledge tlie receipt of your polite invitation to 

a Dinner given to Mr. Romero, Minister from otir sister Republic of Mexico. I 

regret exceedingly that my public duties vdll prevent my being present on so 

interesting an occasion. I regret it the more as I have great respect for Mr. 

ROMEKO, for the manner in which he has conducted the affairs of his Government 

in a time of severe trial, while residing near the United States Government, and 

I trust that he may receive from the citizens of his own country the kind attention 

he has received from the citizens of the United States. 

Very respectfully and truly yours, 

DAVID D. PORTER, Vice-Admiral. 
Hon. Hiram Barney, Chairman, &c. 



Pennsylvania Executive Chamber, Harrisburg, Pa., Sept. 30, 1867. 
My Dear Sir : 

I have the honor to acknowledge your kind invitation to be present at 
the complimentary Dinner to be given to Senor Romero, Envoy Extraordinary and 
Minister Plenipotentiary from Mexico. I should be much pleased to accept, but 
my business engagements will not permit, and I request that you will extend to 
your colleagues on the committee my thanks for their courtesy, and to your dis- 
tinguished guest my kindest wishes for his personal welfare and for the future 
peace and prosperity of the Republic he so long and ably has represented at 
Washington. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

JOHN W GEARY. 
Hon. Hiram Barney, Chairman, &c. 



St. Nicholas Hotel, New York, Oct. 2, 1867. 
Gentlemen : 

I regret exceedingly that my engagements compel me to leave for Ohio this 

afternoon, which will deny me the pleasure of joining you at Dinner this evening. 



and of expressing, in person, the Mgh respect I entertain for your distinguished 
guest. During some of the darkest days of Mexico in her recent struggle against 
her foreign invaders, it was my fortune to see much of Senor Eomeko, and it is 
but doing him justice to say, that he never failed to Lear himself with the courage 
and dignity fitting the official representative of a brave i^eople contending against 
a powerful enemy for their liberties. My sympathies were always with that 
ojDpressed jjeople, and it is a gratifying memory to me, that I never lost an oppor- 
tunity, while a member of the administration, to do all in my power to encourage 
the Republicans of Mexico in their contest. And now that the struggle is ended 
in the triumph of the Constitutional Government, I am most happy to join you 
in the warmest congratulations to Senor Romero on the noble victory, and on 
the restoration of Republican Government in Mexico. Accept my thanks for the 
invitation with which you have honored me. 

I have the honor to be. 

Very respectfully, yours, &c., 

W. DENNISON. 

Hon. HikAM Bakney, Chairman, &c. 



Boston, Sept. 30, 1867. 
My Dear Sni : 

If I could leave home at present, I would certainly have availed myself of 
the privilege afibrded by the Committee of which you are a member, to meet Mr. 
RoMEKO, in company with a large number of eminent gentlemen, at a Dinner to 
be given to-morrow evening in New York, in recognition of his official services 
as the representative of the Government of Mexico, and in friendly recognition, 
also, of the interest in the welfare, freedom, and upward progress of Mexico, 
entertained by the people of the United States. It is not in my power to ^dthdi-aw 
myself from other engagements here, but I am grateful for the o]3portunity, in a 
single written word, to declare my respect for the person of Mr. Roinieeo, and my 
best wishes for his health and happiness. I trust that our own Government, and 
people will not omit to embrace every just occasion to express, in all fit and becom- 
ing ways, the paternal regard due from an elder American Republic to a 
younger and suffering member of the great family of free nations, seeking to 



9 

establish industry, law, order, liberty, and religion on the basis of permanent and 
liberal Republicanism. Without selfishness on our part, but in a spirit of entire 
devotion to principles and ideas, which we ought to desire that other nations may 
in their own way work out to results useful and honorable to themselves, we can 
always remember (and conduct as if we remembered) that the United States, as a 
Government and as a people, stand at the head, and are to be looked to by all the 
world to lead in the cause of Republicanism and well ordered liberty. We caji do 
this in the interest of peace, as well as of freedom ; in the interest of commerce 
and education, as well as of national independence and popular institutions. A 
great career, covering long years of usefulness and glory, awaits America. May 
it be directed by generous minds— just, faithful, intelligent, and broad. 

I am, most respectfully. 

Your friend and servant, 

JOHN A. ANDREW. 

Hon. Hikam Bakney, Chairman, &c. 



Utica, Sept. 38, 1867. 
Gentlemen : 

I have the pleasure to acknowledge your invitation to dine with Senor 
Romero on Wednesday next. An engagement in Court, calling me at the same 
time to a distant county, will deprive me of the pleasure I should have in meet- 
ing your distinguished guest and those who will entertain him. Nothing, how- 
ever, shall deprive me of sympathy with the occasion, and with the sentiment it 
typifies. Having seen something of Senor Romero during the sad trials of his 
country and of our own, I know how deservedly your courtesy and hospitality 
will be bestowed. Displaying a faculty for affairs which would be noticeable 
in any man, he has exhibited an unfaltering faith in liberty and humanity, and 
a placid self-possession in great perplexities which, reflecting honor upon him, at 
the same time prove how a just cause sustains and strengthens those who 
believe. The battle of ideas, fought in Mexico and for Mexico, was our 
battle. The stranger and the invader there, like the ingrate and the con- 
spirator here, struck for caste ; Mexico, like America, struck for man, and shares 
vrith America, upon a common continent, the triumph of a common cause. You 
mean to bring around the same table, men separated by different latitudes, but 



10 

cTierisMng purposes and liopes which mingle in spite of seas and climes. The 
thought is a timely one, and will serve as a pleasant greeting to the new 
Republic under the Southern Cross. I wish I might be one of those who will give 
in person to the departing Envoy their well- wishes for his country and himself. 

With high esteem, 

Your obedient servant, 

ROSCOE CONKLING. 
Hon. Hiram Barney, Chairman, &c. 



Harrisburg, Penn., Sept. 30, 1867. 
Hon. Hiram Barney, Chairman, &c. 

I am in receipt of your invitation to participate in the complimentary Dinner 
to Senor Romero, on the 3d proximo, and sincerely regret my inability to be with 
you, on that interesting occasion, for I would be heartily glad to join with you in 
doing honor alike to your distinguished guest and the gallant people he repre- 
sents, who like ourselves have so lately passed through the baptism of fire. Their 
cause was our cause, their enemies were our enemies, and therefore we rejoice at 
their victories almost as our own. Indeed it seems to me that the highest eulogy 
upon Senor Romero is embraced in the fact that he had so wisely discharged the 
duties of his high office as to have made it morally certain that if their victory 
had been longer delayed the banners of the two Republics would have waved 
over the same armies, and the sword of Sheridan would have been unsheathed in 
defense of the independence of Mexico. The services your guest was able to 
render to his country, by his wisdom, his patience, his devotion to her interests, 
and his unfailing faith in her ultimate triumph over all her enemies, will doubtless 
receive fitting recognition at the hands of his Government and his countrymen, but 
I cannot forbear repeating my regret that I am miable to be with you to bid Seiior 
Romero good speed and a pleasant voyage on his return to the land he has served 
so faithfully and so well. 

Sincerely yours, 

SIMON CAMERON. 



11 

Nashville, Sept. SOtli, 18G7. 
Respected Sir : 

I regret sincerely my inability to meet you and your worthy 

associates on this occasion. The time for the reassembling of Congress is not far 

oif, and my previous engagements forbid my absence from this part of our country 

at present. It alFords me great pleasure to be honored by such an invitation, 

and equally great to know that my fellow countrymen have done our country 

this honor by showing to the world that they have witnessed and appreciated 

the labor of one of the most earnest and devoted men and patriots of the age. 

Senor Romero understood from the begining the nature of the contest in which 

his country was engaged. He knew the character of the men who were struggling 

for her emancipation. He was inspired with a noble faith in the triumph of the 

principles of liberty, and the earnest character of its defenders. He never in the 

most gloomy period of his country's distress, wavered in his devotion to the cause, 

or abated his constant watchfulness and labors. He was no less the friend of our 

own Union than of his country's integrity, for he is the real friend of Republican 

Government. His faith in our own success was no less bright than it was in the 

final triumph of the Mexican Patriots. The present is a most honorable 

testimonial to an able, faithful, devoted patriot, to a true friend of the United 

States, and the cause of human liberty throughout the world. You have my 

sincere and earnest wishes for the complete success of the occasion, for the pros 

perity of all that feel a deep interest in your promised compliment, and especially 

for your honored aud worthy guest. 

Yours truly, 

JOS. S. FOWLER. 
Hon. Hiram Barney, Chairman, &c. 



Natick, Mass., Sept. 28,1867. 
My Dear Sir: 

I have to thank you for the honor of an invitation to the Dinner to 

be given by eminent citizens of New York to Senor Romero, Minister of the 

Republic of Mexico. It is, I assure you, a matter of regret that it is not in my 

power to unite in paying this compliment to a statesman who, during the 

troubled days of the wicked invasion of his country and the usurpation of its Govern- 



13 



ment, was so steadfast in Ms devotion to independence and Eepublican institu- 
tions. I lionor Senor Eomeeo, not only for Ms fidelity to Ms own country in her 
great trials, but for his deep sjanpathy with our country in its struggle for exis 
tence. TMs tribute of respect, paid by so many honored citizens of the commer- 
cial capital of the Eejoublic, will be an additional assurance to Senor Romeeo, that 
he will bear with him to his country the liveliest hopes of the people of the United 
States that the Republic of Mexico will now enter upon a career of progressive 
developement, under free institutions, where personal freedom will be protected 
by law and order. 

Tours, ever, 

HENRY WILSON. 
Hon. Hiram Barney, Chairman, &c. 



Detroit, Sept. 28, 1867. 
Dear Sir : 

To-day's mail brings me your polite invitation to a Dinner in compli- 
ment to SeSor Romero, the Minister of the Republic of Mexico to our Government. 
It would give me great pleasure to attend, but the shortness of the time and the 
length of the journey will deprive me of the pleasure. I cannot close, however, 
without testifying my Mgh respect and even admiration for the character of Mr. 
Romero. Working his cause attentively during the terrible wa,r, wMch tyrants 
and the tools of tyrants have waged in his afflicted country, to overthrow 
and extinguish popular rights. I have found him to be ever true and faith- 
ful to the great cause of Republican liberty. And even in the darkest hours 
he has mamfested a constancy which disaster could not shake, and a faith 
in the ultimate triumph of his country's cause, at once toucMng and sublime. 
I am sure that Juarez, the distinguished statesman and patriot, i\nder whom 
he has served so creditably near our Government, has not found a more trusty and 
efficient agent in promoting the true interests of Mexico ; and it could only be a 
repetition of what is notorious, to say that in the management of the relations of 



13 

Ms country with our own, he has secured himself, and justly, the reputation of a 
true and able minister. May his country he proud of him, and may she ever 
be served vdth equal wisdom, vigilance and energy. 

Very truly and respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

J. M. HOWARD. 
Hon. Hikam Bakney, Chairman, &c. 



Detroit, Sept. 28, 1867. 
Dear Sir : 

I regret that engagements in Ohio vrill prevent the acceptance of the 
invitation of your Committee to be present at the complimentary Dinner given to 
Senor Eomeeo, on the 2d of October. For Senor Romeko, personally, I entertain 
the highest respect. During the darkest hours, when despotisms were combined 
with rebellions for the overthrow of Republican institutions upon this Conti- 
nent, Senor Romero never faltered, doubted or wavered, hoping almost against 
hope. He stood alone, true to the Mexican Republic, true to the Government of 
the United States. How much this Grovernment is indebted to the patriots of 
Mexico will never be known. They permitted no diversions upon our Southern 
borders by French bayonets, during our long and terrible struggle with rebellion. 
It is meet to do Senor Romero high honor, and again thanking you for the in- 
vitation, I regret my inability to be present. 



Very truly yours, 
Hon. Hiram Barney, Chairman, &c. 



T. CHANDLER. 



South Bend, Ind., Sept. 30, 1867. 
My Dear Sir : 

I am glad to find by your letter that such a large number of the 
solid men of your city have united in a complimentary Dinner to Senor Romero, 



u 

for so many years the Minister of the Mexican Republic at Washington, and whom 
I feel honored in being able to call my friend. Distance and other engagements 
prevent my attendance, but I send him, from my Western home, hearty congratu- 
lations that the heroic constancy of his people at last compels the whole world to 
call Mexico a Republic once more. Fortunate indeed was it for Mexico that in 
her hour of trial she had such a representative here. Denied recognition by the 
rest of the diplomatic corps, he never " bated jot of heart or hope" of the final 
triumph of his nation. Modest in his bearing, but firm in his position, always 
actively at work, explaining to all inquirers every phase of the struggle, correcting 
misstatements, and supplying the Administration and Congressmen with important 
information so often needed. Mexico seemed always in his heart and on his lips, 
and I rejoice with you and with him in its final triumph. 

Yours, very truly, 

SCHUYLER COLFAX. 
Ho^f. Hiram Barney, Chairman, &c. 



Lancaster, Sept. 28, 1867. 
Gentlemen : 

I have received your invitation to attend a Dinner to be given in com- 
pliment to Senor Romero, and being unable to answer in person, dictate the 
following : 

I know of no occasion when it would afford me so much gratification to show 
my appreciation of the noble acts of an individual and of a nation. During the 
whole time that the United States have been carrying on an inter-partes war for 
existence, the distracted Republic of Mexico has been resisting the despotism of 
more than one foreign nation, independent of her own traitors. Having adopted 
an excellent constitution, she was fortunate enough to elect one of the ablest and 
most distinguished Presidents to administer it. He met every difficulty, and in de- 
fiance of every threat refused to surrender the interests of his country. I can think 
of but two men, Washington and William of Orange, who, under parallel cir- 
cumstances, combined equally all the qualities of fortitude and patriotism. God 
gave him victory, and, as in their case, protected the cause of liberty. Posterity 



15 

in Mexico will hardly realize tlie difficulties which this great man encountered. 
In this country that cause was most essentially promoted by the able and 
patriotic efforts of Seiior Romero, without whose prudence and determination it 
would have been impossible to sustain the courage and confidence of his country- 
men. The Republic of Mexico was very fortunate in the selection of her represen- 
tative to this Government. Sagacious and cool, he managed his temper with 
admirable skill in the midst of most perplexing difficulties. With great 
delicacy he avoided all topics of controversy without sacrificing any of the rights 
of his country. This Government found no occasion to bestow any thing but honor 
upon her sister Republic. Whether during that whole war she did equal honor to 
herself, it does not become us, on this occasion, any more than Seiior Romero, to in- 
qiiire. It is to be hoped if we again become involved in similar difficulties with a 
foreign nation we may be both able and willing to maintain those principles which 
we deem it necessary for our national honor and safety to assert. I regret that the 
state of my health will make it imj^ossible for me to be present at your Dinner, 

And am, gentlemen. 

Very faithfully yours, 

THADDEUS STEVENS. 
Hon. Hiram Barney, Chairman, &c. " . 



Knoxville, Tenn., Sept. 30, 1867. 
Dear Sir : 

It is with regret that I must forego the honor of being present at the compli- 
mentary Dinner tendered to Seiior Romero, the diplomatic representative of the 
Mexican Republic. To his country as well as to ours, the last few years have been 
full of moment. There as well as here Republican government has been on trial, here 
by domestic treason, aided by foreign support, there by foreign enemies aided by 
domestic traitors. In both, signal success has rewarded the friends of free Repub- 
lican government and done much to establish its j)riuciples in the estimation of 
mankind. Both have demonstrated that the most powerful, benign and mag- 
nanimous form of government is that which rests for support upon the will and 



K) 



tlie affections of tlie people. Both have incorporated new and imj)ortant prin- 
ciples into tlie code of international law. For, if our country, by its forbearance 
in tlie matter of the Trent did mucli to establish the rights of neutral powers upon 
the high seas, Mexico, by the prompt execution of the so-called Emperor Maxi- 
milian, has done more to establish the Monroe Doctrine than was ever done by 
Presidential declarations, or by Resolutions of Congress or National Conventions. 
The essential aid afforded us in our struggle by the persistent adhesion of the 
Mexican people and their President Benito Juaeez, to the cause of their Republic, 
is felt and acknowledged by every true American. And the sympathy extended 
to us by Senor Romeko who, throughout our contest, represented his government 
near the seat of our own, renders emine-itiy proper and well-timed this manifes- 
tation of regard. 

I am very respectfully. 

Your obedient servant, 

HORACE MAYNARD. 
Hon. Hiram Bakney, Chairman, &c. 



Philadelphia, Sept. 28, 1867. 
Deah Sir : 

I sincerely regret that public engagements prevent my acceptance of 
the invitation with which you have honored me to participate in the Dinner to 
be given to Senor Romero, on the 2d inst. It has been my privilege to know 
Senor Romero and to observe his devotion to Republican principles and institu- 
tions, and the courage and skill with which he maintained his country's cause, 
even when, to most men, all seemed lost. It would afford me heartfelt pleasure 
to meet him before his departure for his home, and publicly express my appre- 
ciation of his signal services to the cause of Republicanism. 

With thanks for the honor you have done me, 

I am, dear sir, very truly yours, 

WM. D. KELLY. 
Hon. Hiram Barney, Chairman, &c. 



17 

[TELEGEAM.J 

South Deerfield, Mass., Oct. 2, 1867. 

I cannot possibly come, but I congratulate SeSor RoMEEO with all my heart 
upon the liberation of his country, and cry amen to every good wish for Mexico. 

GEORGE W. CURTIS. 
Hon. Hiram Baeney, Chairman, &c. 



Concord, N. H., Sept. 38, 1867. 
Gentlemek : 

Your note inviting me to join with you and the distinguished citizens of 
New York, whom you represent, at a public Dinner to Seiior Romero, the honored 
representative of the Republic of Mexico, on the occasion of his departure for his 
own country, is received. I assure you, nothing could be more grateful to my feel- 
ings than the opportunity of doing honor to one whose genial manners, high per- 
sonal character and faithful devotion to the liberties and independence of Ms 
native land, have justly won for him the gratitude of his own cotmtrymen and the 
admiration of ours. It is not to be forgotten, on an occasion like the present, that 
our two sister Republics have just emerged from a common peril at the hands of a 
common foe. The great rebellion in our country and the Imperial propagandist con- 
spiracy against Mexico, had, if not a common origin, one common object and aim — 
the overthrow of Republican institutions in America. The adversaries of the United 
States and of Mexico, were mainly the same, with roles slightly changed. The 
head of the one conspiracy, was the scarcely less venomous tail of the other ; and 
both met in the Tuileries. There is an unwritten chapter in the history of 
both, which will some day see the light. And when it does, it will be seen how 
narrowly the bolt which fell on Mexico, missed falling on the United States. I 
state that which I beheve, and for which I am not without authority, when I 
say that the allied British and French naval expedition, which left European 
waters ostensibly for Vera Cruz, during the pendency of the Trent affair, actually 
carried contingent orders to proceed to New Orleans, annul the blockade, and 
proclaim a joint protectorate over all the States bordering on the Gulf of Mexico. 
How the danger was averted, how the allied fleet went to Vera Cruz, how the 



18 

British Government backed out of the Mexican imbroglio, lea\4ng its Imperial 
ally to proceed alone, and how, after years of heroic endurance and daring, 
Mexico is at last free from the heel of her invaders, need not here be told. The 
result has taught the Imperial Master of France a lesson that he will not soon 
unlearn — that no power is strong enough to enslave a Bepublican people deter- 
mined to be free. Thanking you for your invitation, and regretting my inability 
to be present, 

I have the honor to be, gentlemen, 

Your obedient servant, 

GEORGE G. FOGG. 
Hon. Hieam Baeney, Chairman, &c. 



New York, Sept. 30, 1867. 
Sir: 

A previous engagement, taking me out of town, prevents my acceptance of 
the invitation with which your Committee has honored me to a Dinner next 
Wednesday, in compliment to my friend Seiior Romeko. For two years past I 
have had numerous opportunities to witness the vigilance, energy, ability, and 
self sacrifice which have marked that gentleman's course, as Minister of Mexico, 
near our Government, and it would have gratified me much to testify in person 
iny appreciation of his great services and eminent worth. Permit me a few 
words, which, if present, I might have sought occasion to say touching the 
country which Seiior Romero represents. We of Anglo-Saxon blood are wont 
to decry other races. A recent unhappy event has prompted among us 
harsh judgment of Mexico ; judgment j)ronounced, I think, without due 
reflection. Names and titles mislead us. Had a captive captain or lieu- 
tenant of the French invading army been shot, in retaliation for similar 
severity exercised by the invaders, a three-line paragraph, probably, would 
have been devoted to announcement and comment on the fact ; it would not 
have caused a ripple on the surface of public opinion. But a Prince, hoister of 
the black flag, suffers under his own precedent, and a nation is arraigned as 



19 

barbarous because of the deed. By what rule of ethics is this ? Has a man, who 
happens to be an Emperor's brother, the right to put to death, in cold blood, 
prisoners charged with nothing which civilization admits to be a crime, and then, 
because of his rank, to claim exemption from the law he himself set up ? Sup- 
pose the case our own. Say that in those days when the interest on Penn- 
sylvania bonds remained unpaid, and the Rev. Sydney Smith denounced us a na- 
tion of repudiators, we had been but a weak people unable to cope vnth. Great 
Britain, and that the British Government, not discriminating between State 
and Federal obligations, had sent an expeditionary army across the Atlantic to 
enforce payment. Suppose that we had been defeated, the City of Washington 
taken, our President and his Cabinet driven back into the remote West, a monarchy 
declared, a prince of the blood royal of England enthroned as King in the White 
House, our ports seized, our revenues approjiriated, a four years desultory war 
waged to reduce the refractory Republic to order, business suspended, commerce 
ruined, farms laid waste, tens of thousands of our noblest citizens slain in battle. 
Suppose that this British Prince had raised the black flag and had shot, by thou- 
sands, as bandits, citizens of the United States for the crime of defending the Stars 
and Stripes. Suppose that our citizens rallying had, by a desperate effort, nearly 
cleared the country of the British invaders. And suppose, finally, that the self- 
styled King of the United States, prompted by courage or desperation, had fought 
to the bitter end and that we had captured him. Let those who denounce Juarez 
and the Mexican people stand forth and declare whether they would have 
memorialized our reinstated Government for pardon to the man who had de- 
vastated nearly half a continent without even a color of right 1 Would they have 
prayed that mercy be shown to him who had shown no mercy to others ? Would 
they have protested against the right of retaliation ? Would the American 
people have permitted the escape of the red-handed usurper merely because he 
was a queen's son ? Thus terribly tempted, should we have followed Christ's 
precept returning good for evil ? If we dare not assert this, let us not con- 
temptuously denounce our neighbors. We are moved to pity for the fate of a 
brave man, and should lack humanity if the sad recital failed to touch us. But a 
judge has often sentenced a criminal with trembling voice, and sentence has been 
confessed to be just, even among the tears of the audience. Posterity may not be 
able to read, without sorrow, either the story of Eugene Aram, or the history 
of the misguided and unfortunate Maximilian ; but so long as murder is 
regarded as a crime, it will not acquit either the prince or the scholar. 



20 

Opposed in principle, to capital punishment, it was my earnest hope, in the 
interests of civilizations and human i^rogress, that Maximilian's life would be 
spared. We may justly regret that a people did not rise to the height of such 
an act of magnanimity. But let us beware how we thank God that we are not 
as other men. Let us seek to amend, according to principle, a bloody code ; but 
until we shall have succeeded in the effort, let us abstain from judging those who 
gave way to a temptation which we, similarly situated, would probably have been 
unable to resist. 

I am, sir, your obedient servant, 

ROBERT DALE OWEN. 
Hon. Hiram Barney, Chairman, &c. 



Headquarters First Military District, State of Virginia, ) 
Richmond, Va., Oct. 3, 1867 \ 

Dear Sir : 

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of an invitation from the Com- 
mittee of which you were chairman, to a Dinner in compliment to Senor Romero, 
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from Mexico, given in the 
City of New York on the 2d inst. Sickness prevented your highly esteemed 
invitation from being brought to my knowledge until this time. Hence the late- 
ness of my reply. Had my health and official duties permitted, it would have 
afforded me very great pleasure to unite with the citizens of New York in doing 
honor to Senor Romero, for whose personal and official character I have the 
highest esteem, and to manifest my sincere interest in the welfare of Mexico. 

I am, dear sir, yours very truly, 

J. M. SCHOFIELD, Major-General. 
Hon. Hiram Barney, Chairman, &c. 



21 



The Jay Homestead, Katonah, Oct. 1, 1867. 
My Dear Sir : 

I pray you to present SenorEoMERO my sincere regrets that I am unable 
to assist at the Dinner in his honor to be given to-morrow, and at the same time I beg 
to express my best wishes for himself and his country, to whose service he is about 
to bring the large experience in statesmanship and diplomacy, acquired during 
his residence in the United States. The wrongs of Mexico fill a long and dreary 
page in modern history. With a civilization of her own, dating from the seventh 
century, and which, at the beginning of the sixteenth, commanded the admira- 
tion of her European visitors, she has been made the prey of foreign cupidity and 
. ambition from the invasion of Cortez to that of Louis Napoleon. This fact may 
go far to explain the origin of those defects in Mexican administration, which 
Europeans are accustomed to attribute solely to the character of the Mexicans them- 
selves. To this suggestion Europeans might retort — and with justice — that with 
Texas, California and New Mexico in our possession, it was impudent for an 
American to broach the topic of Mexican spoliation, and yet Seiior Romero is un- 
doubtedly right, when he speaks in his letter accepting our invitation, of " the 
noble sympathies of the American people." The Texan rebellion, and our war 
with Mexico — its result — were the work of slavery, whose policy of intrigue and 
conquest was as relentless as that of Spain when ruled by the Inquisition. So also 
the diplomacy of our government toward Mexico in her recent troubles, as little 
represented the real sentiments of our loyal citizens. The conquest of Mexico by 
the French Emperor was, and was intended to be— as Napoleon avowed in his 
letter to General Forey — an insult and a menace to the United States, and 
although, at different stages of its progress, it was acquiesced in, assisted 
and encouraged by the Department at Washington, the sympathies of our 
loyal population were always with Mexico and never with her invaders. 
When in July, 1862, during the active and public preparation for the usurpation 
of Maximilian, the Department assured Mr. Corwin that it was "very certain 
that the idea of preparing a throne in Mexico for an Austrian Prince, if ever 
entertained, was long since abandoned" — when again our Government extended 
to the French, through the New York Custom House, those facilities for import- 
ing into Mexico material of war, which they refused to the Mexicans, calling forth 
the earnest and dignified protest of your guest ; and when, yet once more, in 



22 

October, 1835, Mr. Bigelow, our Minister at Paris, induced M. Drouyn de I'Huys to 
issue the first order for the return of the French troops by an intimation that the 
United States would recognize the Empire of Maximilian when they had de- 
parted — each and all of these acts of diplomacy — which proved as deplorable in 
their result as they were vicious in principle — were in direct violation of the senti- 
ments and wishes of the American people, as emphatically declared by our 
representatives in Congress. Senor Eoiieko, therefore, not^vitllstanding all that 
appears doubtful in the acts or the language of our public servants, may safely 
assure his countrymen, that, as a nation, we sympathize with their resolve to 
maintain their nationality ; and that we shall rejoice at every new indication of 
the permanence, peace, prosperity and happiness of the Mexican Eepublic. 

I have the honor to be, dear sir. 

With great regards, faithfully youi-s, 

JOHN JAY. 
Hon. Hiram Barney, Chairman, &c. 



State of Ehode Island, Executive Department,^ 
Providence, Oct. 6, 1867. \ 

My Dear Sir : 

I found your kind invitation to the Dinner in compliment to Senor Romero 
on my return home, when it was too late to accept, otherwise would have been 
glad to have been with you. 

With thanks for your kind attention, 

I am very truly yours, 

A. E. BURNSIDE. 
Hon. Hiram Barney, Chairman, &c. 



23 

St. Louis, Oct. 1, 18G7. 
Sik: 

I have had the honor to receive an invitation from the Committee of which 
you are chairman, in honor of Mr. Romeeo, Minister of Mexico. If I could, I 
would accept it, for I would gladly improve any fair occasion to manifest my 
respect for that worthy gentleman. When I was employed in ofBcial duties at 
Washington, Mr. Romero was, all the time, Minister from Mexico ; and there 
were points of mutual sympathy which could not fail to draw us into friendly rela- 
tions. I believed him an ardent patriot, and devoted to the independence of his 
country and the freedom of his people ; and I had no reason to doubt but he fully 
concurred in my own settled belief that popular liberty is impossible, unless it be 
established and guarded by law. That the military power, so long as it is confined 
to its legitimate sphere, as the armed servant of the law, to enforce its just author- 
ity, is a great protection to the freedom of the people — but when the military power 
gets above the law, and assumes the sovereignty, there is no instance, in the tide 
of time, in which it did ever establish and maintain a free, popular government. 
I am in very low health, confined to my house, now and for many months 
past ; and, as I cannot appear in person, I venture to send you the followino' 
sentiment : " Government by law ; popular liberty protected by -law ; and the 
law equally obligatory upon the few who govern, as upon the many who are 
governed." 

Most respectfully, your obedient servant, 

EDWARD BATES. 
Hon. Hiram Barney, Chairman, &c. 



234 West 34th street, New York, Oct. 2, 1867. 
My Dear Sir : 

I regret my inability to attend the reception and Dinner to Senor Romero 
this evening. I have hurt my foot badly, and it is so painful I can scarcely move 
it. I expected to have had a good time, but I can't. 

Sincerely, 

SAM'L G. COURTNEY. 
Hon. Hiram Barney, Chairman, &c. 



24 

Columbus, Oct. 2, 1867. 
'SLy De.\k Sir : 

Absence from tome prevented my receiving, until tMs evening, the in- 
vitation your committee were kind enough to send me, to attend the Dinner to 
be given tliis evening, to Seiaor Romero. I deeply regret that it vnll not be in my 
power to unite with those who will be present, in pajdng tliis parting tribute of 
respect, to one so deserving. 

Very truly yours, 

N. H. SWAYXE. 
Hon. Hieam Barney, Chairman, &c 




/^, 



iyte^^,^^.^ 



%\t\mm^t 



yO<7?nA^^.1?7yfJ^ 



a: 






%/6-^t /C^79?yiU'm^e9?yi 



vt7^ 



r, 



y//t/i/o7i^(L?:. 

























fri'fif"// , i 

f-tman ^'e . \ 



CL 



;!^* 



G-Tiests at the Table. 



Henry Clews, ^d Vice President; 



C Romero, 




Maj. Gen. Dan'l Butterfleld, 


Shepard Gandy, 




John A. Stewart, 


James R. Whiting, 


( 


Maj, Gen. Chas. W. Sandford 


F, A, Conkllng-, 


.; ■ 


James Robb, 


M. H. Grinnell, 




Gen. Jas. Grant Wilson, 


Prof. Bartlett, 

West Point, 


1+L 


1. Marlscal, 


Wm. Cullen Bryant, 

President, 




Jas. W. Beekman, 

1st Vice President 


M. Romero, 




A. G. Cattell, 


Hiram Barney, 


i 


Peter Cooper, 


John Russell Young, 


1 


E. C. Cowdin, 


William E. Dodge, Jr., 




Benj. Halllday, 


Maj. Gen. Rufus Ingalls, 


■ 


Francis Sklddy, 


Henry A. Smythe, 


■ 

i ..„.,............._.. J 


Dr. 1. N. Navarro, 



Theodore Roosevelt, ad Vice President. 






■¥ i'!^ 
=t^ 1 



If 



m 



T I 



ftH 



BANQUET 



The scene on the assembling of the guests was one long to be 
reniembered. The banquettiiig hall was brilliantly illuminated. 
The American and Mexican flags were displayed together at 
either end and suggested the friendly relations of the two coun- 
tries, while the ornaments of the table, consisting of a temple of 
liberty and other elaborate designs, seemed to indicate that the 
United States and Mexico were united in the principles of 
Kepublicanism and Independence. Beautiful and rare flowers 
perfumed the air and charmed the eye, and the Dinner was one of 
the most splendid entertainments ever given in ISTew York City. 

William Cullkn Bryant presided, assisted by James W. 
Beekman, Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Clews. 

The Dinner began at 6 o'clock p. m., and at 9 o'clock Mr. 
Bryant requested the attention of the guests and said : 

I have a list of toasts wMcli have been handed to me by the Committee of 
Arrangements, the first of which I will proceed to give out. I hope you Avil] drink 
it with all the respect that is due to a representative of a Great Republic, and a 



28 

man wlio was elected by tlie great Republican party of tbe country to take 
tbe place of tlie President in case anytbiug untoward should happen to him. The 
first toast is 

" The Peesident of the United States." ( Applause.) 

Mr. Bryant said : 

The nest toast relates to the distinguished head of a sister Republic, a 
person belonging to the old aboriginal stock of the country, through whose in- 
strumentality it seems very likely that Providence designs to restore the ancient 
lirosperity of that country. 

" The President of Mexico." ( Three cheers and a tiger.) 

Mr. Wm. E. Dodge, Jr. read the letters received in response 
to invitations, and the friendly sentiments expressed in them for 
the gnest of the evening and for his country were loudly 
applauded. 

In proposing the third toast Mr. Bryant said : 

Gentlemen : — In giving out the third toast of the evening, allow me to intro- 
duce it by a few words. We are come together to do honor to a gentleman who 
for several years past, has represented among us a sister Republic, with an ability 
* worthy of a great cause, and a fortitude and constancy of purpose equal to his 
ability, (cheers). 

There is nothing, my friends, which more surely commands the respect of 
mankind, and let me say, there are few things that more deserve it than a brave 
perseverance in a righteous cause, (applause). Of men distinguished by this 
virtue, history makes up her roll of heroes, and the church her noble army of martyrs. 
It is most fitting that when such a man has stood firmly by the cause of his country 
and of liberty, through the years of their greatest adversity and peril, never faltering in 
his fidelity, never allowing himself to become disheartened by reverses, but resolutely 
trusting in the final success of the right, until at last he saw it gloriously trimnph- 



29 

ant — most fitting is it that we sliould gather around him to congratulate Mm that 
his constancy is at last rewarded, that the tyrannical usurpation against which 
he so steadily protested has been foiled and overthrown, and the liberties which 
the kings of the earth stood up to destroy has been nobly vindicated. (Cheers.) 
Such is the man who is now our guest, and such, in brief, is the history of the cause 
in which hedistingiushed himself. (Loud cheers.) 

We who have all along given that cause our sympathies, and have looked for 
its triumph as certain to follow the suppression of the Rebellion in our own country, 
offer him the expression of our sincere rejoicing at the defeat of this attempt to 
engraft European absolutism upon the institutions of our Continent, and the 
tribute of our praise for that foresight of his, which beholding the sunshine beyond 
the tempest, and discerning the sure connection between the cause of Mexico and 
that of the United States, looked with unwavering confidence for the triumph of 
both. (Cheers.) The tyranny which the slaveholding class sought to set up in 
a part of our country has taken its place among the older abortive conspiracies 
against the welfare of the human race, and the despotism which a great military 
power of the Old World sought to enthrone in Mexico has been dragged after it in 
its fall, and now lies with it in the pit. (" Good," and applause.) 

While we congratulate our friend on this happy consummation, we should no 
less congratulate the people of Mexico on having shown, by their obstinate resis- 
tance to the imposition of a foreign yoke, and the gallant stand they have made for 
their independence, that they possess qualities of character for which the world 
has hitherto given them small credit, and have earned for themselves an honorable 
name in history. (Cheers.) 

There is one act of the Mexican patriots for which they have been greatly 
maligned, and in defense of which our guest has thought proper at one time to 
speak. I mean the execution of the pseudo Emperor of Mexico. With regard to 
the policy of that act I admit that different views may be entertained. I am aware 
also that there are those who would have had Maximilian spared out of a tender 
regard for human life, and the feeling which causes a generous nature to shrmk 
from making a victim of an enemy whom we have completely and helplessly in our 
power. With such I might decline any controversy. But it is not by any such 
transcendental and unusual standard that the act is to be judged. Its moral 
quality is to be estimated according to the ideas of justice which prevail throughout 
civilized countries, and which doom to death him who takes away the life of his 
fellow man with malice aforethought. (Cheers.) 

Maximilian, at a time when his prospects seemed to him brightest, issued a 



30 

decree to tlie eflPect that whosoever was taken in arms, opposing his unprovoked in- 
vasion of their country should be tried by a military commission and shot, and this 
decree was pitilessly executed in numerous instances. The bitter cup which he had 
forced the innocent to taste has been returned to his own guilty lips. (Loud cheers.) 
Who that knows this fact can deny that Maximilian deserved death as richly as 
the ruffian who enters your dwelling at midnight and shoots down the domestics 
who attempt its defense 1 (Cheers.) Let it not be said that he was excusable be- 
cause he had a principal more guilty than himself, and more deserving of the death 
of a felon — the Emperor of France. (Cheers.) Napoleon bribed him by the offer of 
a crown to break into Mexico upon his errand of robbery and and bloodshed He 
was Napoleon's hired assassin, and I believe that is the utmost that can be said for 
him. (Applause.) 

When, therefore, a peer of Great Britain, and a Prime Minister of the British 
Empire, rises, in his place, and speaking of the execution of Maximilian, pro- 
nounces it a murder, I can find no palliation for so gross an affront to truth, 
save that it was spoken in shameful ignorance of the facts of history. (Applause.) 
No, my friends, with all my regard for human life, I find it difficult to answer the 
arguments of those who urge that so flagrant an offense against the rights of na- 
tions as was committed by Maximilian, and such a series of bloody crimes as 
attended his impious enterprise, deserves something more than that their perpe- 
trator should be dismissed to ease and luxury within the walls of a palace, to be 
I)itied for the rest of his life as a brave and unfortunate man, instead of being 
shunned as an audacious criminal, but that, on the contrary, he should be subjected 
to some signal punishment, which should serve as a lesson to future invaders of in- 
offending Republics, and teach the monarchs of the Old World tj respect the liber- 
ties of the New. (Long and continued applause.) 

But let me return to the subject with which I began, to him whose praise you 
have heard so largely given in the letters from distinguished men already read. I 
give the third toast of the evening. 

"OoK Guest, His Excellency Senor Matias Romeko." 

This toast was received with the greatest enthusiasm, and when 
Senor Romero rose he was greeted with three cheers. He spoke 
as follows : 



31 

Mr. Chairman — Qektlemen : — It is nearly eiglit years since I landed in an 
official capacity on tMs hospitable shore. Soon afterward I became the representa- 
tive of my country, or at least of such a i^ortion of it, as believing that they had in 
the United States a great example to imitate, were eager to give Mexico the same 
advantages that this country enjoyed, by following the same line of policy. 

About that very time, the elements of a gigantic political struggle were 
maturing, which produced soon afterward the great Civil War of the United States. 
This terrible shock was felt at once in Mexico, in the shape of an European interven- 
tion avowedly for the purpose of overthromng the Kepublican institutions existing 
there. All of you, gentlemen, are quite familiar with what followed here as well 
as there. It pleased Heaven to crown with success the noble efforts of the patriots 
and philanthropists, who, while defending in both countries the independence and 
integrity of their homes, and the institutions of their choice, were also struggling 
for the advancement of humanity, and the amelioration of the social condition of 
the masses throughout the world. 

I call your attention to this difficult crisis, only to express on this solemn 
occasion, before this distinguished assembly of representative men, my testimony 
of the high-toned, enlightened and disinterested sympathy which the cause of 
Mexico awakened in the hearts of the people of the United States ; a sympathy 
which, while encouraging the Mexican people in the defense of their outraged 
rights, made European encroachments more guarded, and thus contributed in a great 
measure to the final success at which we now all rejoice. 

In closing, or at least suspending, temporarily, my official duties at Washing- 
ton, it behooves me to say, that I carry home a very lively and most pleasant 
recollection of my long sojourn among you ; that I take also with me the lasting 
experience of eight years of political agitation, in which very momentous events 
have taken place ; that faithful to the political creed of the Liberal national party 
of Mexico, I will do all I can to contribute in establishing there the same political 
principles I have been taught to ajjpreciate and admire here, and which, in my 
opinion, are indispensible to the welfare of Mexico ; and it mil be my pride as 
well as my pleasure to be the friend of the United States, so long as they entertain 
no hostile or unfriendly designs against my own country. 

On a former occasion, and in this very place, I availed myself of the opportu- 
nity to express what I consider to be a philosophical view, based on facts, of the 
causes and objects of the civil war in Mexico since the Declaration of its Indepen- 
dence. I do not believe that Nature has made different sets of rules for each 
people, or for each family of peoples called races. It is, in my oiainion, wiser to 



32 



suppose tliat Providence controls mankind by the same code of rules, whicli are 
equally applicable to the Anglo-Saxon as to the Latin races — to the Indians as to 
the Africans. 

In these modern times, political revolutions seem to have for their object the 
amelioration of the condition of the masses, by breaking or attempting to break 
down the old system of the organization of society when this becomes opxsressive. 
Following this theory, it appears to me that in all modern revolutions there have 
been two sides — the aristocratic side, or the side of the few, who have in the course 
of time accumulated wealth, power, and influence, often exercised to the disadvan- 
tage of the people — and the popular side, or the side of the many, who lose those 
advantages in proportion as they are monopolized by their opponents. A point is 
reached where the exactions of the few become intolerable, and then comes a 
popular uprising ; or either, the aristocratic element, foreseeing that this result 
is to happen, precipitates it, by taking the initiative with a view to forcing the 
contest, before their enemies are fully organized and prepared. This was, in my 
opinion, the cause of the English revolution of the 17th centuiy, which culminated 
in the establishment of the Commonwealth ; of the French revolution of the 18th 
century, which ended in a similar manner ; of the last civil war in the United States, 
and of the civil wars in Mexico and other Spanish American Republics. 

Our aristocracy in Mexico has been an ambitious and unscrupulous priesthood, 
who had wielded for centuries political power, and would rather see their country 
subjugated by a foreign despot, than under the control of their political opponents, 
who desire, in good faith, its advancement and prosperity, and its emancipation 
from religious intolerance, and from opposition to popular and free education. 
Fortunately for us, the question at home has been of a mere political character, 
notwithstanding the efforts of the clergy to make it also a religious one. 

Our success against the French once achieved, I have very strong and well- 
grounded reasons to expect that we shall have peace and tranquillity, and that our 
country will be developed and enjoy fully their attending blessings. 

Within a brief period we shall hold our election for the functionaries to be chosen 
by the people, and we shall then enter again into our constitutional existence, 
somewhat interrupted by the French intervention. Our policy will then be to 
enforce our laws, which allow the free exercise of all religions, and give no pre- 
ference to any ; which provide for a perfect separation between Church and State ; 
to establish a system of free schools, which will educate the masses of 
our people, and make them productive and happy ; to encourage the im- 
migration of peaceable and laboring citizens of the United States, which will assist 



33 

us in developing our resources ; to invite the investment of tlie surplus capital of the 
United States in Mexican enterprises, and to look up to this privileged coiintry as 
to our eldest sister, affording us an exami^le worthy of imitation. When these 
objects are attained, when both countries stand in the relation of friendly powers, 
with a common object, and a common destiny, realizing the responsibility they 
have before the world, as the guardians of Eepublican institutions, my life-long 
ambition, and my fondest wishes will have been realized. 

The condition of the Mexican people is not fully understood outside of Mexico, ■ 
and causes very many to distrust their capacity for self-government. It is certainly 
not so far advanced in civilization as the people of the United States. Education 
is not so much extended there as it is here ; there is little homogeneousness in the 
elements of which it is composed ; yet, they are a peaceful, laborious people, well- 
meaning and docile, and they only need the establishment of free schools and the 
consolidation of peace, to become one of the best regulated people upon earth. 
The greater portion of our poibulation has been purposely kept in the most 
complete ignorance by the Spaniards and the Church party, with a view of con- 
trolling them more easily, and when we shall have educated them, we shall double or 
treble the working energies of the country. 

The conduct of the Mexican people during our late war with the French, 
shows, in my opinion, beyond all doubt, that it possesses very many of the virtues 
which constitute a free people ; their perseverance under the greatest discourage- 
ment, their courage and determination to fight constantly against an enemy 
vastly superior in resources, their moderation in the hour of success, their 
well-known endurance, are all facts which speak very clearly in their behalf. 
I have full confidence in them, and earnestly believe that, if they are not as 
advanced as it is desirable they should be, they are capable and desirous of improve- 
ment. 

As to their ability for self-government, I will only say that either Republican 
institutions are adaptable to mankind, and calculated to promote their welfare and 
happiness, or they are not. If they are, I see no reason why the Mexican people 
should be considered unfit for them. If they are not, I could not explain their 
develoijment in this country. 

I think it is a mistaken view of the case to say that because we have had a 
civil war in Mexico, or rather a social war, which has lasted for many years, it 
should be concluded that we are incapable of self-government. None can suppose 
that we have been fighting all that time merely for the pleasure of it. We have 
had, to be sure, unscrupulous and designing men, who have ostensibly appeared 



3^ 

as figliting to gratify tlieir OAvn ambition and self-aggrandizement ; but, in fact, 
tliey have only been used by one or tbe other of the contending political parties ; 
and principles have been involved at the bottom of our troubles. 

As for the motives which prompted the late Maximilian to go to Mexico — - 
much as I regret to speak of them, since he is now shielded by the sacred asylum 
of his gi-ave — I, nevertheless, cannot help saying in defence of my own country, 
that whatever good intentions he may have entertained towards Mexico, if any, 
they have little to do -^vith the question of his intervention there. 

When he was asked to go to Mexico, it is charitable to suppose that he did 
not understand the true condition of a country so far removed from his own. But 
the mere fact that he was asked to go by a foreign state, at war with Mexico, and 
by a few Mexicans who were accomplices in the crime of overthrowing the insti- 
tutions of their country, by means of a foreign army, it seems to me, ought to have 
been sufficient to make him very careful before deciding to take part in and in- 
crease the political difficulties of Mexico. The inducements held out to him by the 
French Emperor prevailed at last, and he determined to go under French protec- 
tion and French auspices, notwithstanding that he never received a single vote 
from any place in Mexico, not in possession of the French Army of occupation. 

The simple case was clearly before him. He may have supposed that if he 
succeeded in forcing tha rule over the Mexican people, he would -b3 the founder of 
a great European empire in the New World; if he failed, he would return to 
Europe with the prestige of having attempted to establish one, with the title of 
Emperor, with a higher position than he ever had before, and a greater proba- 
bility to succeed his brother as the ruler of the Austrian Empire, or to be the 
occupant of any vacant throne in that continent. 

On leaving Miramar, and before arri\"ing in Mexico, he went to Eome, to secure, 
as he said, the benediction of the Pope, and what we cannot understand in 
America, to consult with the Holy See about the temporal government of an 
American republic. The result was, that notmthstanding that consultation, he 
not only failed in establishing his rule in Mexico, but that soon after he arrived 
there he had almost an open rupture with the Pope and the Mexican clergy. 

On arriving in Mexico he began to see that Ms task was more difficult than 
he had imagined. In the beginning, however, it was but light, as the French 
Government had taken care to provide him with funds even before he left Europe, 
making thus of this, another inducement for him to go. When these were 
exhausted, and the French Emperor— satisfied of the impracticability of his task 
— ^inade up his mind to withdraw his troops from Mexico, Maximilian thought of 



35 

returning to Europe as the only alternative left Mm. I pass over, without com- 
ment, the unhappy though not unimportant roU of the partner of his life. The 
result of this last and vain eiFort is well known to all. 

Maximilian then determined to carry out his plan of leaving Mexico and 
sailing from Vera Cruz, where an Austrian war vessel had been in readiness, 
awaiting to convey him to his home. He came almost by stealth from the City 
of Mexico to Orizaba, having previously shipped all his baggage and effects, which 
he took from the country. 

On arriving at this latter place, he was overtaken by some of his supporters, 
who came to persuade him to remain, and who, as they were committed to the 
Empire, saw in him at least one guaranty of foreign support. They represented 
to him, as they had done a few years before to the French Emperor, and other 
European Governments, that they controlled the Mexican people ; that they 
could give him the men and money necessary to consolidate his rule in Mexico. 
They enlarged upon the glory he would achieve by accomplishing this result 
without the aid of the French, and availing themselves of the diflaculties which 
had arisen between him and his supporters, they urged him, by excitino- his 
wounded pride, to make at least another effort to remain, in this instance they suc- 
ceeded as well as in the former. Their efforts, however, would not have had 
this result, in my opinion, had they not been supported by the advice of one 
of Maximilian's most trusted counselors — a Belgian — who accompanied him 
to Mexico, and who, on writing him a letter from Brussels, on the 17th Sep- 
tember, 1866, (the original of which has been in my hands), told him that he 
ought under no circumstances then to leave Mexico; that the French de- 
sired him to do so, to heap upon him the responsibility of their failure, and that 
he ought not to gratify them, but, by remaining, place this responsibility where 
it properly belonged. He advised his master furthermore, to call, after the with- 
drawal of the French, for a popular election to decide whether the Mexican people 
desired him or not, as the best means of leaving, without dishonor, a difficult posi- 
tion, and to return to Earope with a prestige. 

Maximilian's subsequent action showed that he undertook to carry out to the 
very letter this advice, given by a man entirely ignorant of the condition of Mexico. 
He returned to the City of Mexico, after having promised to call for a National 
Congress to decide whether the people desired the Eepublic or the Empire under 
him. 

On arriving there he found that the national troops were closing their lines 



36 

and carrying everything ^before them, and, supposing that he could arrest these 
advances hy taking to the interior all the available forces accumulated in the City 
of Mexico, he marched to Queretaro. It would be unnecessary to say vs^hat hap- 
pened there. Through the want of military ability he allowed our troops to con- 
centrate upon and besiege Qiieretaro, until he was finally overcome. From the 
tenor of his communications while he was surrounded at Queretaro, it appears 
very clearly that he never realized the diflBculties of his position, and much less 
the disastrous end of the campaign ; and his letters to President Juakez since he 
was captured, showed not less plainly that, until then, he had never dreamed of 
the sad fate which, by invading a harmless and innocent people in their American 
mountain homes he had provoked and deserved. 

But Maximilian, although a Grand Duke and heir of empire in Austria, was 
nothing of a Csesar, and only a French automaton in the revolutionary drama of 
my country. Let this unhappy fate be accepted in extenuation of his crime, in 
consenting to be the automaton of the ambition of the French Csesar in the revo- 
lution of Mexico. 

Mexico can hereafter have no fears, for her safety against foreign invasion is 
assured ; no revenges will follow the revolution which her enemies inaugurated, 
and which has resulted in their own overthrow and ruin. 

In concluding these remarks, I fear I have already intruded too long upon 
your patience (cries of " No, no.") I must say that I believe the Mexican Govern- 
ment is preparing several documents to be given to the world, in which its posi- 
tion and the relations of Maximilian towards Mexico will be fully explained. I 
am certain when these documents see the light, that all who doubted the correct- 
ness and propriety of the policy adopted by the Mexican Government, will be in- 
clined to change their minds. I cannot resume my seat without again thanking 
the gentlemen present this evening for their kindness and courtesy in tending to 
me this demonstration. I shall always remember it as one of the most pleasant 
evenings, and one of the most pleasing events that has taken place in my life. 

Senor E-omeko's speech was loudly applauded throughout. 
Mr. Bryant read the next toast : 

" Mexico, our sister Republic, may she ever remain, as the constancy she has 
so recently shown in defending her national liberties proves her worthy to remain, 
independent and free." (Cheers.) 



37 

and called upon Senor I. Mariscal, acting Minister o£ Mexico 
during the absence of Senor Romero, to respond. 

Senor Mariscal said : . 

Gejttlemen — I would never speak quite uupreparedaudin a language not my 
own, before an assembly like this, for I naturally feel embarrassed before sucli a 
presentation of the high sense, ths talent, the i^oetry, and the eloquence of the 
country, but since I cannot properly omit saying something, after the invitation of 
our venerable Chairman, I will confine myself to a few words. 

More than three years ago several persons of the elite of New York tendered 
to Mr. Romero a demonstration just as significant as this. It was an- encourage- 
ment offered to a struggling Republic in her darkest hour, and her representative 
at the beginning of his arduous task, and I can assure you, that in unison with 
other friendly demonstrations from this great people, it reechoed in the hearts of all 
true Mexicans. (Cheers.) This token of yours, so well worded in the toast you 
have just drunk, seems to me to have a peculiar meaning. It is not only a 
congratulation offered to the triumphant Mexican Republic itself", but to a certain 
extent an approval of the conduct of her government. This approval of yours, 
gentlemen, has great political weight, for it comes from real American notables, 
from the real aristocracy of the country — the only one consistent with Demo- 
cratic institutions, the aristocracy of industry, of talent, of virtue, in other words, 
the aristocracy of personal merit. (Applause.) Its significancy will be well 
understood and appreciated in Mexico. 

Our people are now engaged in the work of reconstruction, and it will encour- 
age them to follow in the path of this model Republic, while trying to develope 
those great principles of Republicanism taught by you and for which they have 
so freely and so bravely shed their blood. ( Loud cheers.) Gentlemen, when the 
intelligence of this demonstration reaches Mexico, all my fellow citizens will be 
most thankful. At this moment I feel more than I can express. (Applause.) 

The fifth toast was read as follows : 

" Free Churches and Free Schools, the true guarantees of individual 
and natural happiness, and the aim of Mexican patriots." 



38 

Mr. BiiYANT said that he felt obliged to call upon a gentle- 
man not nnacqnainted with evangelical and edncational affairs, 
and who had interested himself much in their progress in this 
country, Mr. James W. Beekman. ( Applause.) 

Mr. Beekman said : 

Mr. President — I do not know that tlie number five is considered a 
particularly good number, but I know that the fifth desk in tlie New York 
Senate procured me the present distinction. It was there, sir, that I learned 
to value free schools, and when in response to your command I rise to reply to a 
toast which it was expected another would respond to, I must begin by saying 
that to the children of the free schools in Mexico, the Lancasterian school 
established by General Tornel, forty years ago, we owe all that has been done in 
Mexico. (Cheers.) The Liberal party in Mexico is composed of the men and 
women who have been trained in those schools, and who there learned that it is 
possible to worship God and serve the state in more ways than one only, which 
glorious lesson, I take it, lies at the foundation of our prosperity, as it lies at 
the root of a certain tree of liberty planted in a very moist soil on the other 
side of the water many centuries ago. (Cheers.) I have the honor to spring from, 
that tree, and in my fatherland I know very well that a paper bull was fulmi- 
nated many years ago which remains infallible and unrevoked, by which my fore- 
fathers and myself are consigned to perdition for free schools, and therefore I hail 
with joy the eflfbrts made in Mexico in their behalf as the harbinger of better days^ 
as the standard, full high advanced, of free and unforced conscience, of liberty, and 
the union of education and religion, one and inseparable, now and forever. 
(Cheers.) 

The sixth toast was read : 

" Reptiblican Government on the American continent the common cause 
of every community in the Western hemisphere." ( Hearty cheers.) 

Mr. F. A. CoNKLiNG responded : 

Mr President and Gentlemen — Within the last six years the conter- 
minous Republics of the United States and Mexico have incontestably demonstrated 



39 

to the world the fidelity, I had almost said the morality of Republican institutions in 
the Western hemisphere. They have proved that no combination of circumstances 
can be so desperate that the principle of government by the people for the people,will 
not in the end triumphantly reassert its supremacy. (Cheers.) In our own country 
we have seen twelve millions of people in a'rms to overthrow the government, inhab- 
iting a territory imperial in its extent, of unquestionable fertility, intersected by a 
mighty mountain range and by the greatest river system of the world, abound- 
ing in almost inaccessible fastnesses and everglades, with a proud and haughty 
dominant race, impelled by the prospect of almost oriental indulgences and 
splendors — we have seen all this, sir, and yet to-day we see the United States 
more powerful than ever before ; her flag floating triumphantly over every foot of 
her original territory, while the sun rises upon no master and sets upon no slave. 
and stretching her dominions a thousand miles further towards the frozen regions 
of the North. (Applause.) 

In the midst of our great struggle an arrogant and rapacious monarchy of the 
Old World cast her evil eye upon our sister Republic of Mexico, and she selected as 
her instrument a prince of the oldest royal house in all Europe That prince 
justly sleeps to-night in a tyrant and usurper's grave. (Cheers.) Juarez all the 
time was flying from state to state with the government, until finally the usurper 
proclaimed that constitutional liberty had forever fled the country : but Juarez, 
whether accompanied by ten thousand or only ten followers, representing the great 
principle of Republican liberty was stronger than all the myrmidons of the 
tyrant, and to-day he stands in the halls of the Montezumas reaping the reward 
of faithfulness to liberty and his country. (Cheers.) Although the cause of 
Mexico and the United States was one, it was ordained by Providence that each 
should fight its battles alone, and it is fitting to remark here, that the honored 
representative of the Mexican Q-overnment, near the United States, at all times, 
hoping almost against hope, continued his eflbrts with a sad constancy that could 
not be denied, until finally his faith in justice and in God conquered victory, 
(cheers,) and when hereafter the roll of the illustrious patriots and benetactors 
shall be called, the name of Matias Romero shall stand high among them all, 
(Cheers.) In conclusion, Mr. President, permit to give you : 

The United States and Mexico, twin bulwarks of Republican freedom. 
They will take care that no European power shall hereafter interfere with the 
institutions of those who dwell on this side of the Atlantic. (Cheers.) 



40 

The seveiitli toast was drank : 



" The moral to ba deduced from recent events in Mexico— an admonition to 
the great powers of Europe that they cannot intermeddle with the institutions 
of those who dwell on this side of the Atlantic. (Applause.) 



The President called upon Major Gen. Sandfokd to respond 
to this toast. 

Gen. Sandford said : 

Mr. President : — I did not expect to be called upon to-night when there are 
so many eloquent friends around me, but there is certainly no more important sen- 
timent to the people of this entire Continent, than the one which you have just 
uttered. Europe has ridiculed the idea embodied in what is called the Monroe 
Doctrine, but of its wisdom, of its soundness, of its importance not merely to the 
United States, but to this entire Continent, there can be no doubt. There is no 
principle which, to-day, Americans should so strongly advocate, for the world at 
large can no longer ridicule it. The time has come when the Monroe Doctrine may 
be proclaimed in stentorian tones, and can be enforced with an energy which 
Europe must shrink back from. (Applause.) 

The time has come when the associated Eepublics of the Western World may 
set at defiance the whole association of despots in Europe. (Cheers.) The power 
which this Republic developed during the late Civil War, has created a feeling of 
astonishment and I may say alarm among the European nations, and I venture to 
'predict that from this time forward, there will be no more ridicule of the Monroe 
Doctrine, or intermeddling on the part of foreign despots with the liberties of 
associated America. (Cheers.) 

We have at length become one of the powers of the earth. The energy, the 
skill and the science exhibited by our nation during the late war, has awakened a 
new era among the naval and military men of Europe. They no longer regard 
American inventions with contempt, they no longer talk of " American notions," 
they know and they fear American skill and American prowess, and we need no 
longer be afraid of an intervention with American Republics. (Cheers.) 



41 

Mr. Bryant said : 

There is a gentleman here, the accomplished commercial representative 
of Mexico in this city, Dr. Navarro, from whom we should like to hear a 
word or two in relation to the aflFairs of his country, and in partial response 
perhaps to the toast that has already been given. 

Dr. Navarko was greeted with applause. He said : 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, being entirely unprepared you will allow 
me to make only a few remarks. Three and a half years ago, I had the honor of 
being invited by some of you to this very place, where you met to express your 
sympathy for the Mexican Republic, then struggling for her life with one of the 
most powerful European monarchies. Your own country at that time was also 
shaken by a gigantic Civil War, fomented and applauded by the enemies of Repub- 
lican institutions all over the world. (Applause.) On that occasion the situation of 
the two Republics was identical and so were our convictions. No one of those 
present doubted for a moment that the glorious cause of the Union would achieve 
a most complete and splendid triumph, or that the Republic of Mexico would spring 
up, as it were, from her own ashes, and be forever free and independent. (Cheers.) 
Our mutual wishes and conviction, thanks to heaven, have been fulfilled. Your 
magnificent country is and shall be one (" Bravo," and applause), and mine, though 
weakened and almost exhausted, after so long and bloody a strife, waves to the 
wind, on the snowy summit of her colossal mountains, the dear old fiag, where our 
nation can read the magical words, " Republic" and " Independence." 

Under such pleasing circumstances as the present, I feel obliged as a Mexican 
to make manifest to you, and through you to all your fellow citizens, my heartfelt 
gratitude for the unfaltering and efiicient moral support given to our cause by 
both the public officials and citizens of this great Republic, (cheers,) and for 
that generous hospitality which, lavished upon every one of us in our bitterest 
hours, made us forget we were exiles, and hail your beautiful country as our 
second home. (Cheers.) 

My most fervent wishes are for the uninterrupted prosperity and welfare of the 
United States, for the unity of sentiment among all its inhabitants, and for the 
everlasting existence of this impregnable bulwark of human liberty. (Cheers.) 



42 

Mr. Bryant said : 

I see one of tlie distinguislied commanders of our forces in tlie late Rebellion 
present, General Butterfield, who, I am told will not be unwilling to say a word 
or two for the edification of tbe company. I therefore call upon Gen. Butterfield. 
(Applause.) 

Gen. BuiTERFiELD said : 

Mr. President and Gentlemen, I confess that by the remarks of your 
worthy and venerable Presiding Oflacer, my flank is completely turned. (Laughter 
and applause.) It was personally understood when I came here this evening, 
with the gentlemen who have had charge of this elegant entertainment, that I 
should not be called upon to speak. 

Mr. Bryant : — ^I was not aware of that. It was not my fault. 

Gen. BUTTERFIELD : — I have been a quiet listener to the sentiments that have 
been expressed here this evening, and I should not have been willing to respond to 
the call of your President, had not the remarks I have listened to prompted me to 
one theme, the philosophical deduction of all that has passed here, and that is that 
we see that the people of Mexico, without our aid, other than our moral sympathy, 
hav :; achieved their own freedom and their own independence. It teaches us that 
governments rest with the people, that a people unworthy of their own indepen 
dence cannot gain it, (applause,) and I give you as my sentiment : 

The heart and the intellect of a free and educated people the perfect basis of a 
just Government. (Cheers.) 

Hon. Jas. E,. Whiting was called upon for a speech. 

Mr. Whiting said : 

Mexico, God bless her ! when she rises from the wounds and bruises 
imposed upon her, let her remember that in the year 1862, her distinguished 
representative, who is now our guest, stood firm as adamant on the rock of liberty, 



43 

(applause,) his liopes in tlie future being beautifully expressed in the language of 
our poet, who presides for us on this occasion : 

" Truth crushed to earth will rise again, 

The eternal years of God are hers ; 
But error, wounded, writhes in pain, 
And dies anild her worshippers." 
("Good" and cheers). 

The truth of Mexico was centred in her liberty, and although crushed to 
earth, she has risen again, realizing the promise of the poet, (Applause.) She has 
lifted her head among the nations of the earth, and to-day she stands before us 
giving evidence to the world that divinity doth not hedge a king. ( Loud cheers.) 
I do not stand here to justify the policy, but as an American citizen, I justify the 
principle which led to the tragical result, that any man of ordinary common sense 
must have foreseen, and he who could not see it ought to die. (Cheers.) I con- 
gratulate you, Senor Eomero, upon the success of your country. I have known you 
since 1862, and I have endeavored to stand shoulder to shoulder by you in the 
efforts you have made in its behalf. 

Mr. Romero : — You have, sir. 

Mr. Whiting — And when you return to the Palace of the Montezumas, I beg 
you to make my most profound respects to SeiSor Juarez, who will live hereafter 
upon the page of history as a hero devoted to the establishment of civil and 
religious liberty ^vithin the limits of the State of Mexico. (Applause.) I have 
witnessed, sir, the assiduity and unflagging zeal which you have displayed in the 
cause of your country. I have known your hopes, your fears and your anxieties, 
and throughout your many trials you have had my warmest sympathy. When 
you return home, may God speed you there, may the breezes of prosperity waft 
you upon the ocean, and may your people extend to you the hearty welcome you so 
well deserve. I have no doubt from my personal intercourse with you, that you 
can lay your hand upon your breast, and say to President Juarez, " Sir, I return 
to you the talents that you committed to my care, there they are with all the 
usury that I have been able to add to them." Your countrymen have established 
a written fundamental Constitution and have broken the shackles of slavery, and 
while I admire their heroism and their devotion to liberty, I also rejoice as a 
citizen of this great Republic, that as regards slavery, our Constitution now stands 



44 



transcendantly above that wliicli we have lieretotore worsliipi^ed, and that novp 
after a long struggle — in which we have paid the penalty — humanity is disen- 
thralled. 

If ipy blood ever tingled in my veins as an American citizen, it was when I 
received a letter fr<mi the Collector of the port of Quebec, telling me in the 
English language, and underscoring what he wrote, that "Canada is free," while 
we were struggling for ci\'il and personal liberty in my own country. Yes, sir. 
that was his message to me when I was obliged to ask him whether he would not 
allow me to furnish a little aid to Mexico when that privilege was refused me by 
my own country. Our citizens have cause to hang their heads with shame when 
they reflect upon the position occupied by our Government towards Mexico in the 
hour of her greatest danger. A few words at that time spoken by our Secretary of 
State to impudent France, to the effect that the United States regarded the inter- 
vention of Napoleon in the affairs of Mexico with disapprobation, would have saved 
your people thousands of lives and millions of money, and would also have been 
of incalculable benefit to ourselves in the war we were then waging, by showing 
to the world that we had faith in God, faith in the justice of our cause, and strength 
and courage to uphold it. (Applause.) 

Much has been said against the policy of joui Government, but nothing can be 
said against its justice. The treatment of Maximilian was a matter exclusively your 
own, he violated your laws and he suffered under your laws. Those here who 
think that he ought to have been treated with charity, clemency and mercy, would, 
no doubt, if they had lived in Mexico, have insisted upon his execution. It is an easy 
thing to indulge a forgi\iiig disposition when you are not the person who suffers 
the wrong. From our stand point it may seem that Maximilian should have been 
treated with clemency, charity and mercy, but in Mexico justice and even their 
existence as an independent state demanded his execution. (Cheers.) Besides, he 
richly deserved his punishment, and is no more entitled to our sympathy than the 
worst criminal who suffers for his crimes. 

What did he do ? " Tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of 
Askalon." He published a proclamation directing the execution of every man, 
within twenty four houi's after he should be found in arms against this imperial 
edict, and by his order some of the noblest blood of Mexico was spilled for no other 
offense than devotion to country. 

The fate of Maximilian is a lesson and a wai'ning to the crowned heads of Europe 
to avoid hereafter any interference in the affairs of this hemisphere. I have no 
doubt that President Juarez, so far as his own feelings were concerned, inclined 



45 

to the side of mercy and wished to save Maximilian, but he owed a duty to his 
country, and like Washington during the war of the. Revolution, when the fgfe of 
Major Andre was in his hands, he was obliged to make the sacrifice to save his people. 
(Cheers.) 

In conclusion, I say, God speed your President, God speed your country, God 
speed you, and may all the blessings of heaven be showered upon your head from 
this time forever and ever. (Cheers.) 

Mr. Romero said : 

I think I owe it to Judge Whiting to make a statement of facts here 
which are very honorable to him, and although I am afraid I shall offend his 
modesty, I cannot refrain from referring to them. It was my fortune to know Judge 
Whiting at a time when circumstances were very unfavorable to Mexico, in the 
Summer of 1862, when it was very difficult, almost impossible, as it proved after- 
wards, to export to my country any arms or munitions of war, of which we were in 
great need. Although the laws of the United States permitted the exportation of all 
sorts of articles and goods, some way was found to prevent the exportation of such 
things as we needed, and I think it is but simple justice to Judge Whiting to say, 
that he exerted himself in every possible way to have the restriction removed. He 
went to Washington several times, and used his influence vdth the Departments 
there, and also applied to the Collector of the port here, to enable us to take out 
arms which were needed in Mexico, and which he thought we had a perfect right to 
do. This is a fact known to very few persons outside of the official circles at 
Washington and the Collector at this port, who was then our good friend Mr. 
Barney ; but I can assure the Judge that I have put all the facts on record and 
have filed all the papers, including the able arguments submitted by him to the 
Treasury Department and to the Collector of the port of New York, and I hope at 
some future time to do justice to his efforts by bringin^hem all to light. I am 
quite satisfied that the Mexican people and the public at large will always honor 
him for his efforts in support of the noble cause with which he has been identified 
all his life, and for which, in this instance, he did all that it was in his power to 
do. (Applause.) 

Mr. Beekman said : 

We have here a gentleman who is familiar with Mexico, who has served on the 
border, and who can say some words worth hearing. I allude to Gen. James 
Grant Wilson. (Applause.) 



46: 

Gen. Wilson said : 

I had tlie honor of being a volunteer in the late war, and I will now volunteer 
a wor4, a single word. After what has been said in regard to Mexico by the 
eloquent gentlemen who have preceded me, I do not know that I can add any- 
thing, but I desire the gentlemen here present to join with me in drinking the 
health of our honored Chairman, one whose name and fame -^vill be always prized, 
" with earth's and sea's rich gems, vfiih April's first-born flowers, and all things 
rare." (Cheers.) 

Mr. Bryant said : 

I can only thank the gentleman who has been so kind as to offer the toast, 
and the company for the great good nature they have shown in accepting it. and 
accompanjdng it with applause. (Cheers.) 

This concluded the entertainment, and the company separated^ 
after taking an affectionate leave of their distinguished Guest, 



linsford & Sons. Printers, New Yoii. 







•Jjtr "K^ «-.- 



J@H^' -r "^U. ■ , ■ • , -V- ■'■* »V - - f.V 

~^"- • ^ ' .■•'■'"' ■■'^■''' "' '"^u'V --i »i•«T'^y• 



:f'K^^" 



*i-:ir 
























,^k«. 'f !■ 












-^ 









. • / ■ / 



}C. 



•i.','' 






W*- .'J. ' 



:^^.-,^^4^.vi 



.^^•^"^5*i 



/^^c^^^ 



iiii 









i^l 



'■•T ■ ~. ;.'•■• ftt/v I" •■ -./• ' . ■- " 'V ,■'■■■■ 



^^v.;.;r•:^•^V 



I'.'jL .'„-■" w.V' •'■■■■'•-»'"»"' • . . 



,.^te^-: 



